1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable recording/reproducing device that records or reproduces information about a video signal, an audio signal or the like. The invention particularly relates to the recording/reproducing device that are capable of avoiding or reducing various malfunctions occurred in the device when the device is dropped.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since hard disc drives, which are one kind of magnetic disc devices, have a comparatively susceptibility to external impacts, the use of the hard disc drives as recording media of portable electronic devices is avoided. In recent years, however, as hard discs are miniaturized and have larger capacity, the hard discs are designed so as to relive the external impacts. For this reason, the hard discs can be used as recording media of various recording/reproducing devices such as portable music players and camcorders.
Users possibly drop portable recording/reproducing devices by accident. When the hard disc drives is dropped, a magnetic head thereof bump against a magnetic disc surface so that recording data and moreover the hard disc itself are possibly damaged. Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-263853 discloses that when a drop sensor detects a drop of a device having a hard disc drive, a magnetic head is moved to a home position (shipping zone).
In the case where a recording/reproducing devices having a hard disc drive drops, even if a magnetic head is simply moved to a home position, a user is unsure about a check whether the device operates normally after the drop. Further, if the device becomes defective, information about troubleshooting is insufficient.
On the other hands, portable recording/reproducing devices are intentionally moved a lot or unintentionally moved a lot according to statuses of use. For this reason, it is desirable that the devices have a constitution such that a false detection of drop is avoided when the devices are not actually dropped.
Further, in the case where recording/reproducing devices drop and thus the recording of data are interrupted, it is preferable that the data which has been recorded until the interruption can be reproduced.
Furthermore, in the case where recording/reproducing devices are dropped, it is preferable that not only hard disc drives but also the other portions of the devices are prevented from being damaged. For example, even if hard disc drives (recording/reproducing sections) of camcorders are prevented from being damaged, when imaging lenses are damaged, the camcorders cannot fulfill their functions. Therefore, it is desired that the damage of the imaging lenses is prevented.